Ukraine considers anti-corruption agency ‘reset’

Monday, June 17, 2019 3:00:20 PM

In three months, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky may submit a bill to the the Verkhovna Rada to “reset” the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), said the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Ruslan Ryaboshapka, as reported by UNIAN.

According to him, such a measure will be taken if in this time the agencies fail to prove that they are able to work effectively. “If they fail to do this, then the president will be forced to respond by submitting the bill to parliament and parliament will decide on a possible “reset” of one or two of the anti-corruption bodies,” said Ryaboshapka.

During a meeting with the heads of NABU and SAPO, Zelensky demanded they work for results that would “satisfy the people’s demands for justice,” Ryaboshapka said. As an example, he cited the corruption scandals surrounding the Centrenergo and Ukroboronprom companies, and noted that Ukraine is interested in bringing those responsible to justice.

The Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration added that the authorities are waiting for the anti-corruption bodies to take the appropriate steps: “This may include levying accusations against certain persons or transferring the cases to court, and we have several months for that to happen.

In May, Zelensky declared that his team’s priority was not fighting corruption, but defeating it. In addition, the Ukrainian president noted that he intends to fight monopolies in the energy sector, as well as with oligarchs in the media sphere.